Venandi: Giants
__NOEDITSECTION__ __TOC__ Introduction to Giants The Giants are the largest race to have ever inhabited Earth or Celestia (let alone Britain and Atarashi); they prefer to reside within the mountains (Sky Giants), caves (Earth Giants), or the ocean (Ocean Giants). Giants are muscular beings with red, yellow, silver, or violet eyes that look sunken and almost gaunt. They have a slightly metallic sheen to their skin that is due to a protective paint they coat their children in to protect them from the harsh temperatures that surround their chosen environments. Giants do not live in family units; they do not marry, choose partners, or even know to whom they are related. A father's role ends at conception, a mother's ends at birth. The 'family' of a Giant consists of his or her peers, often called brothers and sisters. Giant children are raised by a tribe of Giant Elders known as the Teachers, not by their parents, and then form their own smaller units based on the bonds they form during childhood and adolescence. Children are raised and given a general education, though the practice of killing those who are weak or sickly has long since been outlawed. Giants do not associate mating with love; they have the capacity to love, have friends, and form emotional bonds however they do not have intercourse to express it. Being an exceptionally long-lived race, Giants do not procreate often, and their gestational period is quite long. You can read more on Giant Reproduction on the appropriate page. Giants believe that certain genders are inherently better at certain tasks; men, despite their talents, are never considered good enough to farm and gather food; women are never considered good enough to hunt or fight, they have a certain level of give and take and don't waste the talents of one gender on a task that the other could perform better. There are some exceptions, such as women who fight; a female who shows exceptional fighting skill will be trained and considered a male, regardless of her biological gender; she will even be renamed. This practice is the way that transgender Giants will find themselves acknowledged in society as the gender they identify with, though it does not allow a lot of acceptance for non-binary Giants who often find themselves moving away from their home in search of a more accepting environment. A Male Titan is referred to as a "Geryon" and a Female Titan is referred to as a "Gyges". A Female Titan who has been rennamed is known as an "Ostarga" and a Male Titan who has been renamed is known as an "Ostargi". The Legends There are stories, told for hundreds of millions of years, that tell of the Giants and what they were once capable of. The story says that the Giants created the Earth, that they could carve new worlds if they wished to. It is said that the existence of Celestia (and the land Atarashi now stands on) is proof of the feats that the Giants are capable of. The stories say that the Giants, tired of being persecuted, wanted a home and thus Celestia was brought into existence. As the mammoths and dinosaurs disappeared from the Earth, the Giants moved to this new plane, carving out their own existence. In the 1500s when the witch trials plagued the Arukan, the Giants opened the doorway to their home, allowing the Arukan safety within, allowing them (and the few Venandi and Superus that followed) a save haven to live. The stories tell that not all of the Giants wanted to leave Earth, however, that some stayed behind, spending a lot of time in their animal forms. Those who are incredibly knowledgeable of Giant culture and their homes will even say that sightings of creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot are just evidence that the Giants remained behind. Others will tell of men with Giant strength helping to build Stonehenge, or the Giant's Causeway, and even the Pyramids. There has never been any evidence to support these theories, however, and if the Giants know, they aren't telling. Then again, when a Giant dies, their body turns to stone, and some might say that the Easter Island heads resemble the old, unevolved Giants. Species Breakdown There are three different species of Giant all characterised by different physical features (species may have different options in their powers). The species of Giant consist of the following. Sky Giants Sky Giants, true to their name, prefer living in places of high altitudes (such as the Mountains of Pictland in Atarashi or the Mountains of Scotland in Britain). Sky Giants often look a lot like the stone that they prefer, with a dense bone structure and harsh features. Earth Giants Earth Giants are often considered the more grounded Giants, and the more caring and compassionate (if one can call Giants that). They prefer to live in caves, forests, and other places close to the ground and their skin is almost always patched and dirty looking (as if they've just finished planting some seeds). Ocean Giants Ocean Giants love the water and love humidity to the point that they will always, always live in coastal regions. To find an Ocean Giant away from the water is to assume he or she is sick and seeking out assistance. Ocean Giants are considered to be some of the most temperamental Giants, like their beloved ocean is. Giant Powers All Giants possess the enhancements and primary power listed below. In addition, they may take three additional powers from the list below (or a combination of the powers below and those from the Universal Power Pool if they are a variant) in any combination provided that they meet the requirements. Powers marked as suggested are what we recommend you take for this race. Giant Enhancements A Giant is a tremendously strong creature, even for its prodigious size. It is slow and clumsy, but easily overpowers any other sentient creature in raw strength, being capable of lifting an entire tree to use as a club. Despite their inelegant movement, Giants tend to be skilled artisans; crafting and carving come naturally to them, especially when working with stone. They also have uncanny aim when throwing things; rocks being their favourite missile. Giants gain one additional enhancement based on their type: Ocean Giants can breathe under water, Earth Giants can see well in shadows (but not complete darkness), and Sky Giants are capable of leaping large distances. Formchange (Primary) Giants are all gifted with the ability to change their form in two ways. Their natural state is that of a grey-skinned humanoid between five and eight metres tall (Earth Giants tend to be shorter, Sky Giants taller). They can, if they choose, reduce their size to be more human, though they will still always be tall (between two and three metres / six to ten feet) and alter their skin colour to a more human shade. They retain their amazing strength even in this smaller state. In addition, a Giant can also turn into a massive animal (Ocean Giants into Blue Whales or Colossal Squids, Earth Giants into Mammoths or Elephants, Sky Giants into Triceratops or Allosaurus). This latter transformation takes a long time, about an hour (the human transformation takes around thirty seconds), and the Giant tends not to do it unless they intend to stay in that form for days or even weeks. A Giant may remain in either transformed state indefinitely, but cannot change shape unless there is sufficient space to do so. Unless otherwise noted, a Giant can use all of its powers in human and normal form, but cannot use anything in animal form. Upgrade: Stormtouched Giants with this ability have been blessed by the fury of nature. This ability manifests in different ways depending on the type of Giant. * Sky Giants get Weather Manipulation; the ability to influence the weather in their local area. They are able to disperse clouds, create storms, cause rain to cease, and so on. The ability affects the sky in a region a kilometre across (centred on the Giant) and its effects cannot be further targeted or used as a weapon. If two Sky Giants try and influence the same region, the elder one will win. * Earth Giants get Thunderclap; the ability to release a deafening bellow, creating a radial shockwave originating from their body. The shockwave itself does no damage, but a person pinned between the blast and a solid surface - like a wall - will get slammed into the latter with great force. The shockwave is strong enough to blast apart wooden structures and will leave dents and cracks in tougher materials like concrete and steel. The shockwave is naturally circular, but some Giants can channel it in a single direction, turning it into a ten-metre-long, two-metre-wide tunnel of force. If used this way, anyone caught in the blast will be carried along until its conclusion, occasionally through solid walls. * Ocean Giants get Whirlpool; the ability to create areas of cyclonic energy that draw things in. When this power is used in water, it creates a giant whirlpool (up to a hundred meters across), but when used on land, it instead creates an area of increased gravity centred on the Giant (up to twenty meters across), which pulls anything and everything around them toward them like they are at the bottom of a steep valley. Ocean Giants can use this power even in animal form. Earth Sense (Suggested) A Giant with this ability always knows which way is north, even inside or underground, and they can predict the weather with a fair degree of accuracy up to a day in advance. This ability also protects them from the elements somewhat; they are immune to hot and cold environments (though not other sources of heat and cold) and their senses are not impeded by inclement weather. In addition, a Giant always maintains a connection with nature itself, and as long as they are outdoors, they develop a sixth sense for danger as the earth warns them of incoming trouble. State Absorption (Suggested) A Giant with this ability can make their physical body mimic the properties of things they touch. When this power is activated, the Giant's skin transforms into the material of something the Giant is touching with their bare hands. They can make their skin like steel if they are touching a sword or thorny and flexible if touching a rose stem. They gain all physical properties (for better and worse) of whatever they transform into, but do not change their shape or size in any way. The transformation lasts an hour, or until they transform into something else (or use their Formchange power). This ability works on animals (copying their fur, skin, or exoskeleton) but it does not function on people. This ability requires the material to be solid; water and fire are not valid targets. Upgrade: State Change A Giant with this ability can change their body between three states at will. The first state is solid, which is their normal giant form. The second state is that of a liquid goo, containing the same volume as the humanoid form. The third state is that of a gas or mist. The Giant cannot directly change from solid to gas or vice versa; it must go through the liquid state first. While in liquid or gas state, the Giant can move as normal, but is subject to all the normal physics associated with that state with one exception; their form must always remain contiguous, and as such they are resistant to anything that would separate some part of them from the whole. Any injuries sustained while in solid form will reappear when the Giant next takes solid form, but they are invulnerable while liquid or gaseous. Summon Ally (Suggested) Giants with this ability can call for help from nature herself, should they need it. When this power is used, a specific kind of ally is summoned to rush to the Giant's defense. The type of ally depends on the type of giant, but in all cases, the allies cannot be micromanaged; they will act as a unit to fulfill one simple temporary task (such as defending the Giant from an imminent threat). Allies are not summoned from nothing; the call affects all within a kilometre of the Giant. If there are no valid candidate in that area, this power does nothing. Earth Giants call rocks and boulders (which must be loose and unattached to the earth), Ocean Giants call small creatures of the sea, and Sky Giants call birds. Upgrade: Animate Ally A Giant with this ability can create their own ally, rather than having to summon it. * Earth and Ocean Giants craft small (~1 metre tall) golems out of Stone and Coral, respectively. These golems must be hand-crafted by the Giant to be brought to life, and a Giant can only give life to one golem at a time. A golem possesses no intelligence of its own, but tirelessly carries out simple commands given to it by its owner. The extent of the complexity a golem understands is "attack anyone who comes in here, except me". * Sky Giants instead give life to their own shadows, allowing them to separate from their bodies and act as a separate entity. The shadow retains the size and shape of the Giant and can move freely, but cannot go anywhere a shadow cannot exist. The shadow cannot interact with any physical matter, but it remembers everything that it touches as it moves about, making it an excellent scout once it returns to its owner and shares that information. Ancient Knowledge A Giant with this ability can craft a special crystal which stores memories. Anyone who touches the crystal can place into it some or all of their memories, or can meditate with it to view the memories locked inside it. Only the Giant who created it or person who placed memories into the crystal can remove them permanently. Creating such a crystal takes several days of work, but a Giant may create as many crystals as they like. Earth Glide A Giant with this ability can cause stone and rock to part for them. This ability allows them to walk through solid stone structures at normal speed without leaving a trace, as the rock folds back into place behind them after they have moved through it. A Giant using this ability must keep moving until they are back into open air, as there is not enough oxygen in the space the rock carves out for them for long. An Ocean Giant with this ability can move through water instead of rock (they still have the restriction of starting and stopping in air even though they can breathe underwater). Enlarge A Giant with this ability can magically enlarge things they touch. Specifically, they can make something made for a human (or human-sized creature) into a larger version of itself suitable for use by a Giant. This ability only functions on inorganic things that were manufactured, but the larger version has the same properties and relative strength of its smaller form. Giant Weaknesses All Giants must possess two of the following weaknesses (three if they are a variant Giant). You may choose any combination of two that you wish but their weaknesses must come from this list. Ordning All Giants follow a strict hierarchical approach to life, called their Ordning. The exact procedure varies based on the type of Giant, but a Giant will instinctively respect and obey any creature (even a non-Giant) that has them beaten according to their Ordning. Sky Giants have an Ordning of Extravagance (based on material wealth), Earth Giants have an Ordning of Might (based on physical strength), and Ocean Giants have an Ordning of Artistry (based on skill at crafting or artwork). Overpowered Giants have trouble managing their own prodigious strength. They struggle to apply themselves at less than full power, and can crush things they do not mean to by using more of their strength than they intend. Interacting with humanoids, even in human form, is a challenge for them as they have to use a lot of focus not to accidentally hurt other people. Shatter A Giant's skin is tough, but vulnerable to vibration. Their skin does not cut so much as it does fracture and break like stone, and tools which are effective at demolishing tough structures are very effective at taking down a Giant. In addition, Giants naturally heal very slowly, and require a lot of rest and food for their body to repair itself.